Topic 2 2016, Page 3

Like many others, I love sitting back on the sofa with a cuppa watching an episode of MTV’s show, Catfish. Despite the show focusing on stories of people pretending to be someone they’re not, I’ve never actually thought properly about the big topic of today’s tech-obsessed society – online identity. Continue reading →

The nature of social media makes the development of multiple online identities extremely easy. Often, if someone has a second online identity in addition to their normal ‘true’ one, they are committing some sort of ‘identity deception’. Continue reading →

As the amount of social networking sites have increased, individuals have more platforms to interact with each other over. Costa and Torres however, claim that this has provided users with the ability to reconstruct their personas or even develop multiple personas online. Continue reading →

Photo Credit The main reason for having multiple online profiles is anonymity as who needs 2 Facebook accounts for themselves unless 1 of them isn’t actually them. For people suffering from mental illness the anonymity that multiple accounts provide leads to them being able to interact with people without the stigma and repercussions that may come with mental illness (Sokratis Dinos, 2004). Continue reading →

“Having two identities for yourself is an example of a lack of integrity.” Mark Zuckerberg Just because I keep my personal and professional identities separate, does this mean I have a lack of integrity? Elements of an Online Identity Online identities derive from the practices of individuals on the internet. The internet is integral in our digital society and our online activities have an impact on our social interactions both face to face and on the web. Continue reading →

      In today’s societies, using internet is becoming indispensable, hence creating an online identity is almost every citizen’s duty. The important question that can arise from that point is what can be the best way of creating an online presence. Continue reading →

Should we keep our online identities private? What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a completely open vs. private identity? Julia Allison states that we should maintain many different identities dependent on the community we are in, for example school, work, friends and home (Jarvis, 2011). This is definitely something that I and I know many others can relate too. Continue reading →

We hear a lot about ‘online identity’, ‘constructing online identity’, ‘identity theft’ and ‘identity and privacy’. But what is actually identity? Smith&Watson (2014) define identity as ‘a set of components of personhood’ (p.82), such as demographic characteristics, and note that ‘I’ is constructed and reflexive, both online and offline. However, online identity is not simply an extension of our offline selves. Continue reading →

To learn a little bit more about online identity I decided to search for myself. Continue reading →

In today’s contemporary & technologically-advanced world, users commonly have more than one online web identity. Many argue , WE as consumers are bound and almost ‘forced’ into having an online portfolio.Our web-based usage of social media (Twitter), online-shopping (Amazon) and entertainment (Netflix) etc. Continue reading →

With contrasting opinions on whether individuals should adopt multiple online identities, Facebook and 4Chan have created social media platforms that differ in the extent to which an individual can achieve anonymity. Whilst 4Chan users don’t even need to register an account to use the site, Facebook has constantly searched for ways to improve the authenticity of its users and the recent acquisition of Instagram highlights this (Krotoski 2012). Continue reading →

As the “digital residents and visitors” topic taught us, most web-related subjects are not black or white. Similarly, having multiple online identities is not an absolute debate, but rather serves many purposes, given it is employed properly. Continue reading →

Your identity is the main way you represent yourself when interacting with others, and it is what make you unique. However, there is a difference between your real-life identity and an online identity you might have.   Firstly, let’s just clarify what online identity actually is. Your online identity, also known as Internet identity (IID), is the group of characteristics and social identity that a user creates when interacting with online communities. Continue reading →

As a marketing student I learn first hand the importance of a single online identity. Paid advertising relies on consumers to show behaviours in order to raise profits from their advertising space. When multiple online identities are formed this becomes difficult and results in unsuccessful marketing investments (Vronay, 2014). Zuckerberg has a rather fascist view on identities. His brainchild contractually binds you into having just one in their terms of service under clause 4. Continue reading →

Whilst some individuals are wary of revealing merely one online identity, there is much debate over having multiple. Many (including Facebook creators) believe that authenticity, which describes the genuine nature of one’s online persona, is greatly important in online networking. Others believe that individuals are multifaceted; which is creatively reflected when anonymity is maintained, and allows people to explore avenues when not restricted by their names or “real” identities. Continue reading →

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